Berwyn man sought for questioning

Brother is found slain in home

October 12, 2001|By Matthew Walberg, Tribune staff reporter.

Berwyn police were searching Thursday for a convicted murderer who has been missing since his brother was found shot to death in their home.

The brother, who was released from prison in 1995 after serving 14 years for stabbing a neighbor to death, may be somewhere in Indiana, Wisconsin or Florida, said Berwyn Police Deputy Director Ron Volanti.

At around 2 p.m. Wednesday, family members who had been out of town returned to their home in the 1200 block of Cuyler Avenue to find James Tontlewicz, 36, dead of a gunshot wound to the left eye, Volanti said.

No warrant has been issued or charges filed against the brother, but Volanti said police consider his disappearance suspicious.

"He is a person that we need to talk to in reference to this, and we're working with the state's attorney's office as to how far we're going to go with this," Volanti said. "He appears to be trying to avoid us."

Volanti said police are unsure what may have motivated the slaying, which investigators believe occurred sometime late Tuesday afternoon.

There were no signs of forced entry and the home was secure when the body was discovered Wednesday, so "whatever happened happened inside," he said.

Family members could not be reached for comment.

A longtime neighbor said James Tontlewicz moved in two decades ago with his father and mother, two older brothers and older sister; and the family had been good neighbors.

Yvonne Quilantan said the victim and the brother police are seeking were helpful and kind, often mowing her lawn.

In 1981, the brother was sentenced to 30 years in prison for stabbing a neighbor 40 times with a switchblade and garden stakes after an argument.

Another brother was convicted of manslaughter in connection with the slaying and was sentenced to 7 years in prison in 1996 after eluding police for 11 years.